Internal-combustion engine.



E. 1. RILEY.

INIERNAL comusloN ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20.1916.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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APPLICATION FILED MAY 20,1916.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

EDMOND J. RILEY, 0F GADSDEN, ALABAMA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

Application filed May 20, 1916. Serial No. 98,929.

To ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDMOND J. RILEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at ladsden, in the county of Etowah and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines of the two-cycle type, and more especially to those in which the 'pump and cylinder are coaxial; and the object of the same is to employ an intermittent-ly rotated valve having cavities so located that each connects successively with the compression chamber or pump to receive a charge, with the cylinder at the moment of firing, and with the exhaust to let out the spent gases. I employ a spark plug carried hy this valve and having one end standing in the chamber and the other end making connection at the proper moment with a fixed contact led from a source of electricity. This engine can be built with a single cylinder or as many cylinders as desired, but in the accompanying drawings I have shown the invention as applied to a four-cylinder engine whose other details of construction are not important and are referred to below by reference letters only. Considerable latitude will be allowed the builder or manufacturer, but the following specification sets forth one means of carrying out the invention, reference being made to the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a single View of a four-cylinder engine, giving a side view of the casing inclosing two of the cylinders and a sectional view of the valve-operating mechanism and the other two cylinders and fly wheel, and showing only a portion of my improved valve in section. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 o Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a similar section on the line 3-3 thereof illustrating diagrammatically one form of valve-operating mechanism which may be employed.

The main shaft M has the usual Hy wheel F and cranks, and the latter are preferably set opposite each other for each two cylinders if there should be more than one. If there should be four cylinders, the cranks for the cylinders not shown at the right of Fig. 1 would be opposite each other but quai-tering those at the left of that view, and if there should be siX cylinders the cranks of each pair could be set opposite each other and 12()O from those of the other pairs as will be understood. Each crank is connected by a rod R with a piston P which is here shown as reciprocating vertically within a cylinder C surrounded by a cooling jacket J. The main shaft is connected by any suitable form of valve-operating mechanism V with the intermittently rotating valve which forms the gist of the present invention as described in detail below. The letter I designates the inlet manifold, and the letter X the exhaust manifold. S are the spark plugs and E the source of electricity.

Each cylinder has at its upper end a wall 1 inclosing the cylinder bore proper 2 wherein reciprocates the piston proper 12, and at its lower end' the wall is offset or shouldered as at 3 and continued downward in another wall 4 to produce a pump bore 5 which is coaxial with the cylinder bore 2. The piston proper fits within the cylinder bore, and one or the other element has rings as usual. At its lower end the piston is enlarged as at 13 to produce a pump piston or head 14 fitting closely within the pump bore 5, and one of these elements may also have rings-all as best seen in Fig. 1.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the inlet manifold I communicates with an inlet port 16 through a check valve 17 of any suitable character and which closes outward. This port opens through the shoulder 3 into the bore of the pump at one side, and the outlet from this pump is by way of a port (i in the wall 1 which opens through said shoulder at the opposite side and leads upward within said wall alongside the cylinder bore 2 and by means of which the inflowing fuel is kept warm.

Across the upper end of the cylinder (or of the several cylinders as seen in Fig. 1) is mounted the wall 21 of my improved valve, said wall possibly being cast integral with the wall 1 as shown, and having a cylindrical bore to receive the body of the valve itself. This wall 21 forms the casing of the valve, and it is omitted directly above the bore of each cylinder so that the latter communicates at 29 with the bore of the valve casing. The heads of the casing are indicated at 22 in Fig. 1. The top of the casing may also have an opening closed by a removable plate 23, and when this is taken off access can be had to the interior. The' port (3 leading from the pump is carried around within the wall 21 as at 21 to a point for a purpose to appear. Another port 2G for the outlet of spent gases opens through the opposite side of the wall 1 into the cylinder bore 2, and is led to a point 27 within the wall 21, also for a purpose yet to appear. The main exhaust port is shown at 28 in Fig. 2, and it communicates with the exhaust manifold X in a` manner which will be clear.

Ivithin the bore of this valve casing is mounted the rotary valve itself, broadly designated by the numeral 30 in Fig. 1, and ball bearings 31 and 32 adjacent the heads of the casing may be used if desired. The valve is a cylindrical plug, and if the engine has more than one cylinder this plug is elongated so as to pass over the adjacent cylinder. If the engine has four cylinders, I would provide each pair of cylinders with a similar valve. Opposite each cylinder the plug is provided with two cavities 38 and S4 diametrically opposite each other and each of a size and shape adapting it to register with the bore 2 of the cylinder when the plug stands in proper position; and the cavities and 36 for the next cylinder, which are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 are set quartering to those numbered' 33 and 34. All the cavities may be surrounded by rings, or the rings could be in the casing. The valve 30 has an opening or bore 37 within which stands a fixed rod 38 of insulating material such as fiber carrying along its lower side a distributer 3f) such as a strip of copper connected with the source Il of electricity; and suitable sparking devices such as plugs have their spark gap ends standing within the cavities while their other ends stand within said bore and are adapted to make contact with the distributer 39 only when they are at the bottom of the valve and thc charge is to be fired. At all other times during the rotation of the valve 3() within its casing, the plugs S are carried with it but there is no contact at the point 251) and there is no spark at the spark gap. I have purposely omitted details of the sparking system other than as just stated, because they form no part of the present invention. The same might be said of the packing, the bearings, and the cooling system.

Suitable mechanism is provided for giving the valve an intermittent rotary movement, and while I do not wish to be limited to that shown herein I have illustrated and will describe the same as follows. A worm 40 on the shaft M engages a worm gear 41 on an upright shaft -12 which in turn has worm or other connection 43 with a star wheel or Geneva movement 44 as diagrammatically shown in Fig. 3. In a four-cylinder engine this entire mechanism V may well be disposed between the two pairs ot cylinders and betwen the adjacent heads of two separate valves. One clement 15 of the movement rotates on its own shaft i6, and the other element y47 is shown in Fig. 1 as duplicated because there are two valves 3() to be driven. In this view each of said elements 47 is connected as at 48 with both the valves, and the construction is such that the latter are turned intermittently and in rapidly succeeding steps of 900 each.r in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2.

The operation of this invention is as follows: 0n the descent of a piston the pump head 14 draws the explosive mixture through the valve 17 and port 16 into the pump bore 5. Just before the crank reaches its lowest position, the mechanism V turns the valve 30 one step so that the cavities 33 and Si occupy the positions 35 and 3G. On the rise of the piston the valve 17 closes and the mixture within the pump is forced up through the pump-outlet port (i, along the charge port 24, and to the point 25 which now communicates with the cavity 35; and in the latter the charge is considerably ctmipressed. Meanwhile the spent gases in the cylinder bore are forced along the gas port 26 to the point 27 which now comnnmicates with the cavity 3.6, and the latter stands in communication with the exhaust 2S: and therefore the engine is thoroughly and forcibly scavenged. Inst before the crank reaches its highest position, the mechanism V turns the valve 30 another step so that the cavity which was at the left where it acted as a compression chamber is now brought to the bottom and con'nnunicates at 29 with the cylinder bore 2 in order to act as a firing chan'1ber-- vet the piston is now practically at the upper limit of its stroke and this chamber is not enlarged and therefore the compression is not reduced. The lower plug S stands with its spark gap within this tiring chamber as shown, and just as the valve 3() completes this quarter turn a contact is made at 39 and the spark occurs at the gap` thus firing the charge at the proper moment. As the cank again reaches its lowest position. the mechanism V turns the valve 30 another step so that the cavity which was at the bottom where it acted as a tiring chamber is now brought to the right and places the gas port 2G in communication with t-he exhaust 2S; and meanwhile the opposite cavity is brought to the left and thrown into communication with the charge port where the first step of the next cycle takes place. The rise of the piston now forcibly expels the spent gases, and as the crank again reaches its highest position the mechanism turns the valve 30 another step so that the cavity passes to the icio uppermost or idle position, ready to move another step to the left Where it begins another cycle of its oWn.

It is to be understood that the positions dotted at 35 and 3G in Fig. 2 are the actual outlines of the same cavities of the next cylinder beyond the plane of the section, but they are also the intermediate positions assumed by the cavities 33 and 34 which are in full lines in this view. In other Words, the valve 30 rotates intermittently by steps of O each. When the cavities stand horizontal they are respectively receiving a charge of the mixture and permitting the escape of the spent gases, and when they stand vertical the uppermost cavity is idle and the lowermost which carries the live spark plug S constitutes in effect the head of the cylinder. The ideal construction of an engine of this character is to build the cylinders in pairs as shown, although several pairs might be employed as suggested. If there be but a single cylinder, there will be only one pair of cavities but the valve 30 Will yet rotate intermittently in steps of 90 each. The advantages of such an engine are that a Working stroke is given for each revolution and for each cylinder; the latter is completely scavenged and the gases forcibly ejected; the cavity serving as a compression chamber is large, Whereas the ports G and 24 are small; incoming gas or fuel strikes a hot piston and is carried along a port Which is closer to the cylinder bore than the jacket, so that the gas is kept Warm and a low grade of gasolene or kerosene or other distillates may be used; all puppet valves are eliminated as Well as secondary1 wires in the ignition system; and the cranks and strokes may be long so as to give increased compression to the charge and increased power to the engine.

While I have shown and described the cylinders as upright and the valve casing as extending along their upper ends, I do not wish to be limited in this or in other unnecessary particulars.

What I claim is:

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder, reciprocating piston, main shaft, and charge former; ay valve casing extending across the cylinder and communicating therewith and having an exhaust at one side, a gas outlet port leading from the cylinder into said casing at a point near such exhaust, a charge port leading from the charge former into said casing and opening at a point on the other side of the cylinder, a rotary valve in the casing having two opposite cavities, means actuated by the shaft for rotating the valve intermittently to bring each cavity succes-v sively into communication with the charge port, with the cylinder, and With both the gas port and exhaust, and means actuated by the shaft for producing a spark in the cavity when it communicates with the cylinder.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination With an upright cylinder, a piston reciprocating therein, a main shaft,

and a charge former; of a horizontal valve casing extending transversely across the head of the cylinder and communicating at its bottom with the interior thereof and having an exhaust at one side, a gas outlet port opening fromthe cylinder into the casing at a point near said exhaust, a charge port opening into said casing at a point on the other side of the cylinder, a rotary valve mounted in said casing and having two oppositely disposed cavities, means for rotating the valve intermittently in steps to bring each cavity successively into communication with the charge port, with the cylinder, and with both the gas outlet port and exhaust, both ports being closed when the cavity is at its intermediate position, and means for producing a spark in the cavity when it stands at said intermediate position.

3. In an internal combustion engine, the combination With an upright cylinder, a piston reciprocating therein, a. main shaft, and a pump actuated by the latter; of a horizontal valve casing extending transversely across the head of the cylinder and communicating at its bottom With the interior thereof and having an exhaust at one side, a gas outlet port opening from the cylinder into the casing at a point near said exhaust, a pump outlet port opening into said casing at a point on the other side of the cylinder, a rotary valve mounted in said casing and having tWo oppositely disposed cavities, spark plugs Within them, means actuated by the shaft for rotating the valve intermittently in steps to bring each cavity successively into communication With the pump outlet port, with the cylinder, and with both the gas outlet port and exhaust, both ports being closed when the cavity is at its intermediate position, and means for conducting a sparking current to the loWermost plug when the cavity stands at said intermediate position.

4. In an internal combustion engine, the combination With a cylinder, a pump coaxial therewith, a main shaft, and pistons in the cylinder and pump; of a valve casing extending across the head of the cylinder and communicating with its interior and having an exhaust at one side, a gas outlet port leading from the cylinder and opening into e casing at a point near said exhaust, a fuel inlet port into said pump, a charge outlet port from the pump leading along the walls of the cylinder and casing and opening into the latter at a point on the other side of the cylinder from said gas port, a rotary valve mounted in said casing and having oppositely disposed cavities, means for rotating it intermittently in steps to bring each cavity successively into communication with the pump outlet port, with the cylinder, and with both the gas outlet port and exhaust, and means for producing a spark in the cavity when it communicates with the cylinder.

5. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder, a pump coaxial therewith, a main shaft, and pistons in the cylinder' and pump; of a valve casing extending across the head of the cylinder and communicating with its interior and having an exhaust at one side, a gas outlet port leading from the bore of the cylinder near said head through the wall of the casing and opening into the bore of the latter at a point near said exhaust, a fuel inlet opening into said pump, a check valve therein opening toward the pump, a charge outlet port leading from the pump and opening into the valve casing at a point opposite its exhaust, a valve mounted in said casing and having two oppositely disposed cavities, valve-actuating mechanism for rotating the valve intermittently to bring each cavity successively into communication with the charge port, with the cylinder, and with both the gas port and exhaust, and means for producing a spark in the cavity when it communicates with the cylinder.

6. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with an upright cylinder, reciprocating piston, main shaft, and charge former; of a horizontal valve casing extending across the head of the cylinder and communicating at its bottom therewith and having an exhaust at one side, a gas outlet port opening from the cylinder into the casing at a point near said exhaust, an inlet port opening from the charge former into the casing at a point on the other side of the cylinder, a tubular valve mounted in said casing and having two oppositely disposed cavities, means for rotating the valve in steps to bring each cavity successively into communication with the i-n-let port, with the cylinder, and with both the gas outlet port and exhaust, spark plugs carried by the valve with their outer ends standing in its cavities and their inner ends in its bore, an insulated member ixedly mounted at the axis of said bore, and a terminal in the bottom of said member connected with a source of current and adapted to contact with a plug when the latter stands in its lowermost posi-tion; Y

In testimonyV whereof I aHix my signature.

EDMOND J. lRILEY.

Copies ot this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

